Like to get to know me better?

A few months ago I had the pleasure of chatting with the Marcela Araneda - Managing Editor of Retail Pharmacy Magazine. We covered everything for where my interest in pharmacy began, to my experiences in retail, hospital and industry pharmacy environments. We also talked through the key advertising issues that are common problems for community pharmacies.

Like to have a quick look?

Question 1: Emi, tell us a little bit about your professional background and how you came to be the principal consultant of your company.

Deep down, we all have something that

drives us. The corporate world call it a

‘mission statement’, and even though I’ve

been involved with pharmacy for, wow,

almost 30 years now, I’ve stayed true to

mine. Starting out at university all those

years ago, I wanted to support patients

to improve their health outcomes –

empower people with knowledge so they

could take on their own self-care.

I’ve worked as a pharmacist in retail,

hospital and industry settings from top

to bottom of Australia, and overseas

as well.

After deciding to sell my Sydney

pharmacies I explored ways to support

community health from a different

angle. I worked with the Therapeutic

Goods Administration advertising

compliance unit as the TGA’s delegated

advertising services manager,

managing and conducting all the

mandatory pre-approval of therapeutic

goods advertising. This involved

interpreting clinical information and

relating it back to consumer health

advertising. Essentially comparing

the facts available with the message

that was coming through in an

advertisement.

I discovered there was a real need

among advertisers and sponsor

companies for support in ensuring their

‘amazing advertising’ complied with all

the rules, so established my consultancy

business offering advice and guidance

on all aspects of health product and

service promotion.